tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13535489370816040752024-03-13T05:12:03.618-07:00Maureen BaderMaureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-47924675466078137992017-12-09T17:16:00.000-08:002017-12-09T17:16:25.480-08:00Island Halls Xmas Carol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PgOiAUZM8jg/WiyKpIBBKaI/AAAAAAAAAoc/18LGAthNj4QcqafSxxHCs35oY9WzCz7HACLcBGAs/s1600/Donkey8x10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PgOiAUZM8jg/WiyKpIBBKaI/AAAAAAAAAoc/18LGAthNj4QcqafSxxHCs35oY9WzCz7HACLcBGAs/s1600/Donkey8x10.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A parody to be sung to the tune of Deck the Halls.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Deck two halls with boughs of money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Tis the season of sly robbery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Don we now our cloak of blackmail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Gull the trolls – avoid a downscale</span><span lang="EN-US">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">See the twits that sit before us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Strike a blow for them that’s for us</span><span lang="EN-US">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">If you want to take your pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Tax away the other’s treasure</span><span lang="EN-US">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-7705720132456661902017-07-17T10:54:00.000-07:002017-07-17T10:54:23.837-07:00Win Any Argument Any Time against AnyoneMaureen Bader talks to Doug Randall on KGAB 650 am about the five rules to win any argument. You too can argue effectively against annoying people who think they know everything.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/333593186&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-38281832355305185342017-07-04T18:33:00.000-07:002017-07-04T18:33:16.773-07:00How to Argue Effectively<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Winning arguments is easy. I win them all
the time. Ask any of my former employers. I can win an argument on any topic
against any opponent. People know this and out of fear and admiration, avoid me
at political functions. Also, showing their great respect, they often don’t
invite me. I can show you too how to win arguments. All you have to do is
follow these five simple rules. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">1. Drink Excessively<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Let’s say you are at an evening political function
and some famous pundit is emitting hot air about the Green Party Platform, a document
you have never read. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">If you imbibe some faddish drink like
Kombucha, you’ll linger at the edge of the crowd, hiding your ignorance, while
this guru intoxicates your date with his apocalyptic guile. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Instead, if you drink several glasses of
wine – large ones – you’ll find you have refined opinions about the Green Party
Platform. Now an argument powerhouse, you’ll warm the room with your heated
genius, possibly melting ice cubes. Jaws dropped, eyebrows raised, people may
be driven from the room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">2. Cook up fake facts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Suppose, in this Green Party Platform
argument, you are trying to prove that a family’s home heating cost will go
through the roof, a position based solely on the fact that your home heating
cost is currently through the roof, and you’ll be damned if other people’s home
heating costs are not also going to go through the roof. Don’t say, “Home
heating costs will go through the roof.” Say instead, “The average family’s
home heating cost in 2015 was $15,471.26, adjusted for the two-tier billing
system, that is $7,475.75 higher than 10 years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Note: Always cook up exact figures. If the
date-stealing pundit asks where you got the information, cook that up too. Say:
this information comes from Dr. Rajendra Pachauri’s study for the B.C.
Electrical Commission, published on April 5, 2016. Of course you’ve read it?”
Say this last bit with the same tone you’d use if you were asking, “Did you
just fart?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">3. Use vague and meaningless but deep and
meaningful sounding words. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Commit this list to memory: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In other words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Going forward<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In such a way that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Be that as it may<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Also memorize this list of Latin words:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Non sequitar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Caveat emptor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Ipso facto<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">De facto<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Ad hominem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">These mean, “I went to university and you didn’t.”
Here’s how you use them. Suppose you want to say, “Families would prefer to
wear thermal long underwear only outside the house, not inside, but home
heating is too expensive.” Face it; you will never win an argument talking like
that. You will, though, if you say: “Going forward, in such a way that long
underwear is ipso facto normally worn outside, not inside, the cost of home
heating, be that as it may, is, de facto, too expensive. Caveat Emptor.” No one
but a dogmatist would question such a profound sounding statement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">4. Use snappy but irrelevant comebacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When the date stealing bottom dweller makes
a valid point, you need to have a list of irrelevant phrases ready to throw him
off his game. Some of the best are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">That’s a straw man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Don’t appeal to authority to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">You are being defensive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">What are your basic premises? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The last one is particularly useful. Only
philosophy majors have any idea what a basic premise even is. Use these
comebacks as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">You say: “When Al Gore was president, …” He
says: “Al Gore was never president.” You say, “You are being defensive.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Or, you say: “Monrovians, like most
Europeans,” and he says, “Monrovia is part of Africa,” you say, “That’s a red
herring.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">5. Compare the pundit to Adolf Hitler. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When the date stealing pundit is completely
right and you’ve gone terribly wrong, it’s time to pull out the big gun. Raise
Hitler’s name tactfully. Say, “Didn’t Hitler say something like that?” or “You
sure remind me of Hitler.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">As you can see, arguing is easy as long as
you remember these five simple rules. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-64931768676707599742017-06-15T14:28:00.002-07:002017-06-15T17:07:02.784-07:00Dr. Tim Ball on the why of climate deceit<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0mVzLjojRaQ/WUL7XdnA8rI/AAAAAAAAAng/ITl4ZgUhlwkxEQVwS7b1itCxQYVW4yyyQCLcBGAs/s1600/TimBall.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0mVzLjojRaQ/WUL7XdnA8rI/AAAAAAAAAng/ITl4ZgUhlwkxEQVwS7b1itCxQYVW4yyyQCLcBGAs/s200/TimBall.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Ball</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Listen as Dr. Tim Ball and Glenn Woods discuss why climate hysteria continues to plague families in both Canada and the US, on KGAB 650 am in Cheyenne Wyoming. They also talk about why President Trump was right to take the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.<br />
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<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/328249858&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-45056171279618257892017-05-31T12:30:00.001-07:002017-05-31T12:30:42.627-07:00Bullshit - A discussion on KGAB radio, 650 AM in Cheyenne, WyomingMaureen Bader and Glenn Woods discuss what makes a statement vacuous, meaningless, and to put it plainly, just plain bullshit, on KGAB, 650 am.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/325404243&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-73064287274739784122017-05-30T17:21:00.000-07:002017-05-30T17:21:15.023-07:00Are you a sucker for bullshit? Take the test!<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">You've read my article <i>Don't </i><i>bullish!t me baby</i> and may now be wondering if you can recognize bullshit. In the list of 10 statements below, five are profound statements made by well-known scholars and five are pseudo-profound bullshit, created using the new age bullshit generator (www.sebpearce.com/bullshit). It puts random buzzwords into syntactically correct but meaningless and vague sentences. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Take the test to find out if you are susceptible to bullshit! (Answers below - but no peeking!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. If you have never experienced this spark devoid of self, it can be difficult to live.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. Consciousness consists of psionic wave oscillations of quantum energy. “Quantum” means a deepening of the spatial. By deepening, we heal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i></i><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. It is in invocation that we are recreated. It is a sign of things to come. It is time to take synchronicity to the next level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. Before you embark on a journey or revenge, dig two graves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. Today, science tells us that the essence of nature is science.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">8. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">9. Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>10.</i> We must learn how to lead cosmic lives in the face of discontinuity. The grid is approaching a tipping point. We must beckon ourselves and recreate others.</span></div>
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<i>Answers:</i></div>
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<i>x. Bullshit</i></div>
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<i>ix. </i>William Penn</div>
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<i>viii.</i> Aristotle</div>
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<i>vii.Bullshit</i></div>
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<i>vi. </i>Confucius</div>
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<i>v. Bullshit</i></div>
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<i>iv. Bullshit</i></div>
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<i>iii.</i> Abraham Maslow</div>
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<i>ii. Bullshit</i></div>
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<i>i. </i>Thomas Jefferson</div>
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Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-79841803353255352552017-05-30T12:34:00.000-07:002017-05-30T12:34:28.550-07:00Don’t talk bullsh!t to me babyThe other day I saw a couple of interesting phrases. One was: <i>Today, science tells us that the essence of nature is non-locality</i>. Now, does that mean the buy local movement is over? I’m not sure. How about this: <i>By maturing, we live. This life is nothing short of a summoning reintegration of high-frequency intention</i>. <i>By maturing we live</i> seems super obvious. I mean, if we don’t mature we stagnate and when we stagnate, we die. The second part of this is quite undecipherable but we’ll come back to it later.<br /><br />So what is going on here? A statement might sound deep and meaningful but when we stop and think about it, we quickly see it lacks depth and insight. If something sounds really profound but can mean anything, does it have any actual meaning at all?<br /><br /><div>
And if a profound sounding statement has no truth or meaning, what is it? Could it be bullshit? <br /><br />If it is bullshit, are we likely to fall for it and even more important, how do we arm ourselves against bullshit? <br /><br />A 2015 study by a group of Canadian researchers tried to answer these questions <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Barr, Nathaniel; Pennycook, Gordon; Cheyne, James Allen; Koehler, Derek J.; and Fugelsang, Jonathan A., "On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-profound Bullshit" (2015). Faculty Publications and Scholarship. Paper 1 http://source.sheridancollege.ca/ ass_huma_publ/1).</span><br /><br />Researchers first differentiated bullshit from lying. A liar is someone who knows what is true and intentionally says something else. A bullshitter, on the other hand, doesn’t care what the truth is. He just wants to sound good. They go on to clarify pseudo-profound bullshit as statements that suggest but don’t contain truth or meaning. They imply depth and insight but don’t have any. <br /><br />Researchers tried to figure out what character traits make us more susceptible to bullshit. To do that, they created a bullshit receptivity measure by first making up profound sounding statements with random buzzwords put into grammatical phrases. Then they asked study respondents how profound the statements are based on a five-point scale, with 1 being not profound at all and 5 being extremely profound. <br /><br />The study authors used two bullshit generating websites (<a href="http://www.wisdomofchopra/">www.wisdomofchopra</a> and www.sebpearce.com/bullshit).<br /><br />Let’s go back to our examples. The phrase: <i>This life is nothing short of a summoning reintegration of high-frequency intention</i> might suggest profundity but I made it up by putting together a series of random buzzwords in a syntactical way. So what we really have here is a vague and ambiguous statement that lacks meaning. To put it plainly, this is bullshit. <br /><br />Let’s make another one: <i>You and I are messengers of the quantum soup. We exist as chaos-driven reactions. The goal of pulses is to plant the seeds of gratitude rather than dogma. Nothing is impossible</i>.</div>
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You get the idea. </div>
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So who is likely to fall for bullshit statements? Two factors make people score higher for bullshit receptivity. One is the tendency to accept what they hear as true or meaningful. They take the ‘keep an open mind’ notion so seriously their brains fall out of their heads. </div>
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<br />The other is the tendency to confuse vagueness for profundity. In this case, a person doesn’t understand the statement so instead of questioning its meaning, he or she judges the statement as profound. This is the tendency for a person to think that if they don’t understand a statement, something is wrong with them, not the statement. <br /><br />People with these tendencies are often more intuitive thinkers; they are less likely to be analytical in their thinking and more likely to base their responses to a statement on an initial impression. One protection against bullshit then is to take the time to think about the meaning of words to understand a statement. That would help identify a statement such as -- <i>The goal of pulses is to plant the seeds of gratitude rather than dogma. Nothing is impossible</i> -- as bullshit. <br /><br />To defend ourselves against bullshitters and their bullshit, the first and most important step, and probably the more difficult as it involves effort, is to think analytically about the actual meaning of words in a statement, and their associations, just like we did at the beginning of this article. Another defense is to build some skepticism around the source of the statement. Just knowing we are surrounded by bullshitters is a defense against bullshit. <br /><br />The serious point to all this is that bullshit
is all around us so we need to understand it, recognize it and call it out for
what it is.</div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-59903784063636026412017-04-12T13:16:00.000-07:002017-05-27T10:53:38.744-07:00Spockophobia hits the nation<br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Bought
on by long-term reasonitis</span> </li>
</ul>
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<span lang="EN-US">The US Center for Disease Control issued a
warning about a sudden and massive outbreak of Spockophobia as a result of insidious
reasonitis perverting the country’s thinking public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Dr. Logia Call, head of psychiatry at the
Center’s Center for Logical Studies, said the unreasonable fear of logic, so
common among non-thinkers, has spread into the thinking population and
threatens to mass strong minds into the same emotional muddle. The condition
has now reached the final frontier, Dr. Call warns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Spockophobia, named after the timeless Dr.
Spock character in the original Star Trek series, describes an irrational fear
of reasonable thought and understanding. In the typical logical process, Dr.
Call explains, people connect with reality, think about the facts of reality,
look for evidence to support those facts, and make conclusions based on facts
that actually exist in reality and support their thought process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“When A=A becomes just too much to bear,
the weak-minded reject the facts of reality and withdraw to a place where A=B,”
Dr. Call explains. “When a non-thinker retreats into a fantasy world, little is
lost. However, when thinkers start to draw conclusions from a place where A=B, Houston,
we have a problem.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Reason is the power of the mind to think,
understand and form judgments using logic. For many years now, confirmed Dr.
Call, more and more people are ducking their responsibility to think for
themselves and yielding to those who are more than happy to do it for them,
ultimately to their great cost and to that of everyone else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Reasonitis started it all,” confirmed Dr.
Call. “The fear of thinking crops up from some of our most basic insecurities
and in particular, a fear of making decisions. We want to withdraw into a
childlike state and have an adult make decisions for us. But it’s one thing for
the weak-minded to live in a fantasy world. It’s quite another for everyone to
do it. If this lifts off, we will live short and dwindle.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Research from the Center shows that
government programs designed to keep adults in a childlike state are at least
mostly to blame. Eternal childhood leads to a takeover by manipulative
do-gooders and frauds that reap the benefits of power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">According to Dougald Goodenough, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">Racket Coordinator</span><span lang="EN-US"> at the Office of the Comptroller of the Citizenry, almost half the
population receives a check from the government. That could be anything,
including Medicaid and Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, government
schools, National school lunch programs, National school breakfast programs, housing
vouchers, Woman, Infants and Children, Foster Care, Child Care Mandatory &
Matching funds—the list goes on and on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Those who accuse government of corrupting
the public are chicken littles,” said Manfried Pillraton, Senior Dependency
Officer in the Department of Advanced Paradox and People Management. “We are
helping those who choose to live in a fantasy world. Without us they’d have to
think for themselves, make decisions and possibly fail. We ensure their
self-esteem is never challenged. This is not a con game.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">But when the rational population lifts off,
Spockophobia perverts the normal thought process and people come to believe the
government is the solution to all problems. Need your snowmobile trail groomed?
Calling the government becomes the logical response. Over time, government’s
power becomes godlike. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Fear of thinking can be overcome but it
won’t be easy,” said Dr. Call. “It means taking responsibility for our
decisions, overcoming the fear of making mistakes and finding purpose in our
lives, something government discourages people from doing.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Is a cure possible? Dr. Call said the
condition could cure itself if there is no one to complain to or if people are
just left to be self-reliant. In a world where everyone is a child, no one is a
child. However, should a strong individual or group decide to become the
father-like figure, we will go where we have oft gone before, with perilous results.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-72570657137820722172017-04-10T12:30:00.004-07:002017-04-10T12:30:59.652-07:00Private vs government charity - a discussion on KGABMaureen Bader and Glenn Woods discuss the difference between private charity and coerced charity through the government apparatus on KGAB radio. If you've ever wondered why government programs to help the poor often create a dependent class, be sure to listen.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/317036905&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-65523131405026839412017-04-09T14:47:00.000-07:002017-04-09T14:47:15.566-07:00Government-Funded Do-Gooding – the curse of the modern age<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Have you ever wondered how do-gooders
without money, without power, do good to others? They get government to fund
their do-gooding by expropriating funds from other people. What does everyone
else get? We get a myriad of government programs with negative consequences.
These sanctimonious pseudo-helpers create a death spiral for both taxpayers and
those they profess to bless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">How do do-gooders get away with this? Do-gooders
swathe themselves in a shroud of good intentions. For example, what happens
when do-gooders lobby for the creation of government programs to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">help</i> the poor. Taxes go up but even more
destructive, people end up in poverty for the long term. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">According to a Cato Institute study, The
Work vs Welfare Tradeoff (2013), welfare beneficiaries in Wyoming earned
$33,119 annually. With a state median salary of $36,130, these generous
benefits create a “welfare cliff” encouraging low-income individuals to stay
out of the workforce. But as the study confirms, a job is the best way out of
poverty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The shroud clouds misleading methods so it
should come as no surprise that these illusory good intentions lead to bad
results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But does this mean helping people a bad
idea or are the means used by modern do-gooders the problem?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Let’s look at how this works. When a person
wants to help someone he can do it in one of two ways. The old-fashioned way is
to help someone directly using one’s own funds. In this situation, doing good
is secondary to living a productive life. The giver gives his own money voluntarily.
The idea is to help a person through a short-term time of difficulty. The idea
is for the recipient to become more self-reliant. The idea is a hand up, not a
hand out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The modern way is fundamentally different. In
this situation, the giver lacks his own funds and must get the funds somehow as
he considers doing good his primary justification for existence. How is this
do-gooder able to get the money he doesn’t have? He uses the power of government.
Politicians are more than happy to help do-gooderize the victims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">That politicians give other people’s money
away is not exactly news. How does this work together with the do-gooder’s primary
justification for existence? Politicians are more than happy raid people’s
wallets to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">help</i> the poor because this
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">help</i> gives politicians unlimited
taxing power. Medicaid alone cost Wyoming taxpayers about $260 million in 2015, for example. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">What else happens when do-gooders use the
power of government to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good</i> to others? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">After all, do-gooders need people to do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good</i> to. Do-gooders pervert their victim’s
self-reliance, initiative and independence to create the dependent class
necessary for the do-gooder to justify his existence. Do-gooders work to
perpetuate dependency – they draw people into a dependent lifestyle.
Politicians are happy to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">help</i> because
this creates a dependent voting heavily motivated to vote for glad handing politicians. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The results confront us every day. Anti-poverty
activists, bureaucrats and philanthropists have increased welfare state programs
to both capture funds from the productive and to draw the needy into a web of
dependency. Do-gooders take both people’s money and people’s self-reliance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Let’s take this to its logical conclusion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The 20<sup>th</sup> Century has given us
quite a few examples of how using one group to benefit another leads to a
government policy oppression and how this has resulted in the starvation and
murder of millions. One very evil man, such as a Hitler or Stalin,
can’t do it all by himself. They need the help of do-gooders and their shroud of do-gooding to kick of their programs of oppression. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But the ‘ends justifies the means’
mentality is not exactly new. And when the ‘ends’ are the greater good,
justified by whatever means, we can get bad results. For example after the
slaughter in 1649 of about 30,000 people, including women and children, Oliver
Cromwell said to the English Parliament: “I am persuaded that this is a
righteous judgment of God upon these barbarous wretches, who have imbued their
hands in so much innocent blood and that it will tend to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prevent the effusion of blood for the future, which are satisfactory
ground for such actions, which otherwise cannot but work remorse and regret</i>.”
[Emphasis added by the author.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Once a person decides that an individual is
nothing more than a means to an end of a higher purpose, the tools of a
totalitarian society can be unleashed. The complete disregard of the happiness
of the individual, spying, and eliminating noisy nonconformists are necessary
outcomes. Nothing is prohibited as long as the person means well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It allows for the violation of the individual
for the greater good, however defined. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Love of money might be the root of all
evil, but lack of it is the seed. The ends justifies the means ideology has bad
consequences because bad means corrupt the ends. Do-gooders and politicians get
together because they have the same motives, they seek the same ends, to exists
for, through and by others. But each individual is an end in himself, not the
means to an end for someone else. In the face of all the atrocities of the 20<sup>th</sup>
Century, why do do-gooders still support the measures of murders? Because they
have been told that the death of millions might ultimately benefit a greater
number. The ends justify the means, even if that means murder.</div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-17653586396964036152017-04-03T11:57:00.000-07:002017-04-03T11:57:33.364-07:00Sex Week Spending and Other Questionable ErectionsMaureen Bader and Glenn Woods discuss Wyoming's stimulating spending priorities. With tax hikes on the horizon, citizens must become more aware of the political spending priorities. Sex Week, Taj Mahals, never ending bike lanes - this type of erection will result in higher taxes for Wyoming families.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/315929455&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-79651089504301620452017-03-30T13:44:00.000-07:002017-03-30T13:44:43.547-07:00Budgetary woes may leave sex week cold <div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Earlier this year, Wyoming’s Casper College
Wellness Center hosted sex week in the college’s union building. For the third
year in a row, between 250 and 300 students have joined together in this
arousing event. Who knew taxpayer-funded colleges had such stimulating spending
priorities?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">No doubt parents and taxpayers are thrilled
to know that government is doing something to fuel the sex lives of students in
taxpayer-funded colleges. After all, if the government didn’t promote sex,
there wouldn’t be any…oh really? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Unfortunately, college budget cramps tightened
the screws on a number of programs including nursing, and released instructors
and computerized electronic databases. But who needs Internet porn when
students can get a taste of the real thing at the Wellness Center? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The budget squeeze has dampened programs
across the state, even dousing government spending fires such as Wyoming’s Capitol
building renovation in Cheyenne. Originally, the renovation was a stripped down
facelift. Plans soon heated up and a towering Taj Majal arose from the wet
dreams of enthusiastic legislative empire builders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This uplift aroused quite a bit of tension.
When it looked more and more like empire stimulators desired bazillions of
dollars for their Taj Mahal, Wyoming’s Governor Mead drew a line in the sand on
the Capitol blowout. Undeterred, excited legislators bore down hard to abort
that strategy, trying to screw over another budget to deliver their baby
through the back door. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Just what had these legislators so steamed?
They said a historic renovation would stimulate tourism to Cheyenne and keep
the construction industry in the family way. After all, if government didn’t
promote tourism we wouldn’t have any…how progressive! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But with a limp minerals sector, where
would the money come from to pay for these wet dreams? No problem. Politicians would
dig deep into the pants pockets of Wyoming families to continue stimulating
their cronies. Luckily for taxpayers, the tourism and construction industry
stimulus got squeezed out in the end. As compensation, perhaps free-spending legislators
can give them free condoms, just like Casper College gave to expectant students
during sex week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But Casper College is also in trouble. Although
total college revenue is down by about $13 million (state taxpayers fund about
half of all college spending), expenses fell by only about $5 million. This
math fertility comes from the vacuum aspiration of the college’s $10 million
budget nest egg. But this sucking sound has left the nest egg empty. How do sex
promoters hope to continue funding sex week and other crucial college programs
such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love your body </i>next year?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All</i>
college spending would likely be stimulated by a deep dive into your pants
pocket in the form of – wait for it – higher property taxes! More sex stuff at
the college, however would likely come from higher student fees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US">No doubt, students would be thrilled to
pay higher fees for sex. After all, sex week is replete with important
initiatives. For example, an <span style="color: #343434;">information table dispensed
free condoms and pens.</span> <span style="color: #343434;">For Valentine’s Day,
the center’s “Love Table,” offered surveys for couples and small games such as
guessing how many Hershey’s chocolates are in a jar…how enlightened! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Some of the more instructive presentations,
and I’m not making this up, included: “Awkward, Jerk-wad, or Stalker? When
‘Creepy’ Becomes Criminal, and How to Protect Yourself.” After sex week, the
center hosted a “Love Your Body, Treat It Well” week to provide information and
activities to help people develop healthy strategies to take care of and
appreciate their bodies…how informative!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But if college officials are not able to
strip taxpayers of funds for sex at the college, and with the tourism miscarry
by stimulated legislators, maybe college officials can get taxpayers to fund
sex week at the new Capitol. That would certainly stimulate something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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still, how about a pregnant pause? Instead of expecting more money from
taxpayers and students, eliminate programs that offer, and I’m not making this
up, HIV testing. Cuts to the nursing program could help make this a reality.</span><!--EndFragment-->
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-68541223936447519282017-03-28T12:17:00.000-07:002017-03-28T13:42:02.733-07:00Sweet on Subsidies<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Sugar beet farmers are back at the trough,
with hat in hand, looking for a handout. Why? Because Wyoming had a cold and
rainy winter – wow! What a surprise!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Farmers have grown sugar beets in Wyoming
for years so one wonders why they haven’t noticed those cold and rainy winters
before. But maybe they have noticed and just don’t care. Why might they not
care? Because they can harvest your wallet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What happens when government gives tax
dollars to people who make bad decisions? Flood insurance is a good example. Flood
insurance is not available in the private sector as part of the standard
homeowners policy because people using their own money view flood risk as
uninsurable. After a series of floods in the Mississippi basin in the 1960’s,
the federal government created the National Flood Insurance Program to provide
flood insurance to communities and homeowners. When the taxpayer takes on the
flood risk, people are encouraged to continue building in flood prone areas. Gee
Martha, it looks like a flood is on the way again. Don’t worry Billi-Bob, the
government will give us a bucket for a bailout again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Incidentally, according to the U.S.
Government Accountability Office’s 2017 High Risk report: <span style="color: #1a1a1a;">“Since the program offers rates that do not fully reflect
the risk of flooding, NFIP’s overall rate-setting structure was not designed to
be actuarially sound in the aggregate, nor was it intended to generate
sufficient funds to fully cover all losses.” This is a lose-lose proposition. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But you know what’s strange? Government
didn’t always give money to people who made bad decisions. Imagine what might
have happened had government given money to the horse and carriage sector back
when the car was invented. As more and more people drove around in cars, fewer
and fewer rode around in buggies. This meant buggy builders lost customers,
stables didn’t need all those stallions, and harness makers either went out of
business or started making car seat covers. Did government support buggy
makers? No it didn’t and we don’t see buggies on the streets these days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">However, here in Wyoming, the Wyoming
Business Council is in the business of keeping those metaphorical buggies on
the road. It subsidizes businesses that can’t get cheap loans in the private
sector, including farmers who don’t care about Wyoming’s cold and rainy
winters. In fact, since 2000, the Wyoming Business Council has given out more
than $5 million to a group of farmers including about 38 in a cooperative known
as Wyoming Sugar. The WBC may now give an additional $6 million to these 38
farmers because the USDA, another government subsidy handout organization, declined
to give them a federal handout. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But here’s a question few seem to have asked.
If farmers hadn’t received payments in the past would they have moved on to
other crops more suitable to rainy and cold winters?</span><br />
<br />
Farmers can raise a lot by plowing. Yes,
farming is an important activity and yes farmers are valuable members of society
but do we want farmers and farming dependent on government welfare? I don’t
think so.</div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-71266831327015614172017-03-27T13:50:00.000-07:002017-03-28T12:27:36.817-07:00Sugar Subsidy FarmingMaureen Bader and Glenn Woods talk about the latest proposal for subsidies to sugar beet farmers in Wyoming. But is creating a welfare dependent agricultural sector good for the state and ultimately for the country?<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/314751661&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-15928313659903346482017-02-23T11:51:00.000-08:002017-03-28T12:28:16.098-07:00Internet Retail Sales Tax Grab Attempt in WyomingIn this eight-minute Podcast, Maureen Bader discusses the problems with the Wyoming government's attempt to tax Internet sales in Wyoming, with Glenn Woods on KGAB Radio 650 am in Cheyenne. Politicians use two excuses to justify this tax grab. First, they say they need the money. But the revenue they expect from this tax will in no way cover the shortfall in state funds--the government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.<br />
<br />
Second, they say they want to level the playing field between Main Street and the Internet. If politicians really wanted to help Main Street, they would lower the burden of regulations and taxation on Main Street sellers, not extend the dead hand of government to innovative sellers using technology to assist their sales efforts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/309219507&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-46105102046582169702017-01-25T06:30:00.000-08:002017-01-25T06:30:18.097-08:00Bankrupt Pension Plans Drive Businesses Out of the State – A Lesson for Wyoming<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">[This article was first published by Maureen Bader on December 22, 2011. And the amusing thing is that the Illinois policy group didn't make the </span>Conference of Public Employees Retirement System's <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Naughty list.]</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;">Illinois' government pension plan disaster provides a lesson for Wyoming. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Companies were talking about leaving
the state of Illinois. Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Sears’ corporate
headquarters were among the companies looking to head to states farther away —
from fiscal collapse that is. Indiana governor Mitch Daniels is busy promoting
his state as a place with an attractive business climate. Wyoming is likely
doing the same. However, Wyoming suffers from the same problem that is tanking
the Illinois state budget – an unsustainable pension plan for bureaucrats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Wyoming’s bureaucrats have it made –
for now. When they retire, they’ve been promised a pension most people in the
private sector can only dream about. Bureaucrats get a defined-benefit pension
plan, one that pays a sum of money defined by the bureaucrat’s last
five-year-average salary and the length of time in government, whether there is
enough money in the pension fund or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Neither the Illinois nor the Wyoming
pension plans have enough money to pay their promised benefits. Wyoming’s
public sector pension plan is 84 per cent funded. That means, should it close
down today, the government would have enough money to pay for 84 per cent of
its promised benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Technically, these types of funds are
considered beyond recovery when they fall below 71 per cent funded. Illinois’
public sector pension plans are 51 per cent funded. Illinois’s pension plans do
not have enough money to pay the promised benefits and are too far gone to
recover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">The Illinois government is in a state
of denial. Instead of reforming its pension plan it hiked corporate income tax
rates from 7.3 per cent to 9.5 per cent and personal income tax rates from
three per cent to five per cent to try to Band-Aid over the problem. These tax
hikes were sold to businesses and individuals as a temporary tax measure, but
with an aging bureaucrat population, the drag on the state’s budget will only
get worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Businesses, not wanting to get stuck
paying for politician’s unaffordable promises, responded by looking for greener
pastures until the governor backed off and cut the tax hike. Of course, none of
this changes the reality that Illinois’ pension plan is bankrupt so these cuts
will likely only keep business in the state until the next budget crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Wyoming has no corporate or personal
income tax so would be a good place for these companies to relocate to, on the
surface. That’s because Wyoming’s bureaucrats enjoy the same type of pension
plan as those in Illinois. Some Wyoming legislators have faced reality and a
bill is heading to the Wyoming legislature to reform the Wyoming bureaucrat
pension plan before the state has the same problems now sinking Illinois. But
will enough Wyoming legislators take the necessary steps to reform the plan?
All Wyoming legislators must face reality now and reform this pension plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">These defined benefit pension plans
are a relic of bygone times. That’s why almost all companies in the private
sector have moved employees to the type of plan outlined in the new Wyoming
bill — a defined contribution pension plan. In this type of plan, retirees’
pensions are determined by how well their investments did over time. The money
is in an account a person owns and controls. People don’t depend on false
promises and taxpayers aren’t on the hook to support pensions far grander than
anything they could ever hope for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Businesses and private-sector
taxpayers, many who do not even have a pension, cannot be expected to fund the
retirement bliss, even if illusory, of bureaucrats. As defined benefit plans
become a bigger ball and chain on the economy, they drive taxes up which drives
business out of the state. By empowering all people to control their own
retirement future, Wyoming can avoid this fate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">Let’s not be Illinoyed!</span><!--EndFragment-->Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-71449444691757341322017-01-23T06:37:00.000-08:002017-01-23T06:37:00.948-08:00Pension Reform – Time for a Reality Check<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[This article was first published by Maureen Bader on October 13, 2014]</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Imagine living in
a place where anyone can have anything they want by just wishing for it. If one
wants a house, one imagines a house—and poof—it appears. But scarcity is the
basis for an economic system, thus in a place with no scarcity, people have no
needs. In a place where people have what looks like every material need by just
wishing for it, they have no need to work, no need to cooperate with other
people, and as a result, being naturally quarrelsome, people tend to live
farther and farther apart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Imagine a person living in this place deciding to do something about this situation. He decides he will go back to Earth
where he can get real materials and bring them back to build real houses. That
would create a community, bring people together and that would mean safety in
numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Someone foreign to this
place asks, “Safety from what?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The man doesn’t
answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Undeterred, the
new person asks, "But if people can get a house by just imagining it, why
would they want a real house?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The logical fellow
tilts his head and says, "To keep the rain out, for instance." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"These imaginary ones
don’t?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"Well of
course not, how could they?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Then why build
them?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“For safety, or at
least, the illusion of safety.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Then a new person asks,
"Just where are we?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"We don’t
have a name for it here," the would-be builder says, "but back on Earth,
some people call it Hell." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So living in a
place where you can have whatever you want, except it is not real, it is just
an illusion. Worse still, a place where safety is just an illusion is not such a great place
to be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pension Promises<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Often, government
promises create nothing but the illusion of safety. Pension promises are a good
example. Government has promised to support government workers in their
retirement, but because of the fundamental flaws in the government pension
system, this promise is an illusion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, one day the City of Central Falls in Rhode Island simply stopped
sending pension checks to pensioners because its pension fund ran out of money.
The same thing happened in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pritchard,
Alabama even though state law required it to pay pension benefits in full. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Although in both
cases, pensioners eventually started receiving at least part of their pension
payments again, a retired fire marshal in Pritchard died while waiting for that
pension check. Imagine being 89 years old, standing by your mailbox, waiting
for a pension check that never arrives. That is not a very nice place to be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When pension funds
run out of money, there is no tree from which to pluck pension checks. And if
you think this couldn’t happen in Wyoming, think again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Wyoming provides the
same type of pension promise to government workers that Central Falls and
Pritchard do, and it suffers from the same fundamental flaws. In fact, Wyoming
has a pension plan that will run out of money in about 15 years—Fireman Pension
A. This is a closed plan with 292 members, and three current employees in who
can retire at 75 percent of their final salary and receive a 3-percent
compounded cost of living increase every year. Making this situation worse is
that neither current employees nor the taxpayer contribute to the plan, and it
is $68 million in the hole. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Speaking of the
illusion of security, reform attempts are met with resistance by the very
people who would be affected most direly should the system collapse. In the
case of Fireman Pension A, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>its representative
objected to a joint Wyoming Liberty Group and Reason Foundation seminar which
sought to solve Wyoming's looming pension debt problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Closing one’s eyes and ears to reality won’t
change it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So how does
Wyoming ensure pensioners are not left waiting at the mailbox and future
taxpayers are not left with a massive pension debt? The first step is to get
real. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Real Pension Reform<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When we talk about
pension reform, what are we talking about? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Let’s start with
an overview of the principles of real pension reform. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">First, we must
understand that both government workers and taxpayers deserve a retirement
system that places people on the path to retirement security and is fiscally
sound, transparent and accountable. Legislators must establish a government sector
retirement system that is affordable, sustainable and secure. With almost $2
billion in pension debt that won’t just go away, legislators must create a
program that pays down this debt as quickly as possible. All this is good, but
processes must also be established that ensure future legislators adequately
fund retirement promises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">On Monday, former
Utah state senator Dan Liljenquist described his experience reforming the
pension system in his state. The Utah story is a good example for Wyoming
because the state was not in crisis mode before the 2008 downturn. In fact,
Utah’s pension system was 100 percent funded. After the market crash, it lost 22.3
percent of its value and leaders realized that without fundamental reform, more
and more of the state’s general fund would go to pay down the pension debt, the
debt would take years to grow out of, if ever, and should another downturn hit,
they would be in an even worse position. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It was time for
fundamental reform. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This meant putting
new employees into a different type of plan, one that lowered contribution
costs and protected taxpayers from market downturns. Utah closed the existing
defined benefit program to new employees, taxpayer contributions to the new
retirement program were capped by statute at 10 percent of base salary, and new
employees had a choice between a straight 401(k) plan or a hybrid plan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">While new
employees and taxpayers would still be on the hook to pay down the pension debt
created under the old system, the cost of the retirement system for new
employees was less than half that of the old, meaning that as the current
program came to its end (as retired employees died), resources would be freed
up for other programs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The key for Utah
was to gradually reduce pension-related bankruptcy risk until that risk is eliminated.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This is the
direction Wyoming must take so pensioners have a pension once they retire and
taxpayers are not left with a legacy of debt and higher taxes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-2249514802183257502017-01-19T05:37:00.000-08:002017-01-19T05:37:01.196-08:00Skyrocketing Pension Costs Mean Higher Taxes or Fewer Services[This article by Maureen Bader was published in the Casper Star Tribune on September 9, 2014]<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Government
pension plans promise to pay current and future retirees a benefit based on a
defined formula. To make good on its promise, government contributes tax
dollars to a pension fund and invests them to generate income. But what happens
when contributions and investment returns fall short? Will government raise
taxes, cut spending, or reduce the promised defined benefit to retirees when
the pension bill comes due?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">The
Wyoming Retirement System (WRS) manages the money to pay the state of Wyoming’s
retirees. The state employee pension plan, the largest of the eight plans
managed by the WRS, held $6.5 billion to pay benefits as of December 31,
2013—about $2 billion less than what it needs to pay these benefits over the
life of the plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Pension
contributions are no small sum. More tax dollars go into the plan than the tax
paid into the general fund by the minerals industry—the severance tax. For
calendar year 2013, employee and employer contributions to the plan totaled
$244.7 million, while severance tax revenue going into the state’s general fund
totaled $210 million.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">It’s
getting worse. Pension contributions went up in 2013 and 2014 in recognition of
the plan’s continued unsustainability. In fact, between 2004 and 2013,
contributions to the state employee’s retirement fund more than doubled, from
$121 million to $244 million.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">But
here’s the rub. State employees contribute only a small portion of their pay to
the so-called <i>employee</i> contribution, making the employer (read—taxpayer)
pick up approximately 90 percent of the total contribution. This means that
taxpayers in fact paid $220 million towards the retirement of someone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Although
a stealth bailout via higher contributions might make it appear as though the
pension plan is well managed, there is yet more bad news. The plan pays out
more than it collects in contributions. For example, it took in $244 million in
contributions in 2013 and paid out $387 million in benefits. This happens every
year and means the fund depends on investment returns to ensure pensioners will
receive a pension and taxpayers won’t be on the hook for a massive future
bailout. However, in a year when the market declines and investment returns
fall, such 2008 when the plan lost $1.6 billion, and again in 2011 when the
investments lost $63.5 million, the amount of money available to pay promised
pensions plummets. Hence the $2 billion shortage in the fund.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">But
never fear. Government can always raise taxes or lower services to taxpayers to
make up the difference. So, if you thought you were paying enough in taxes in
return for services, think again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Which
taxes will go up or worse, which new taxes will be imposed on unsuspecting
Wyomingites? Can you say—income and marijuana tax?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">And
which services will likely disappear?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">We
already have an idea. According to a New York Times article</span><u style="text-underline: #094EC0;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #094ec0; font-family: Georgia;">[1]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">, when
pension and health care costs in San Jose, CA ate up 20 percent of its general
fund, the city closed libraries and community centers. It also cut back staff
and reduced salaries. Some cities, such as Stockton and San Bernardino CA, and
the granddaddy of them all—so far at least—Detroit, have declared bankruptcy in
part to reduce their pension liability. As a result, pensioners are seeing a
reduction in their pension checks. Technically, states can’t declare
bankruptcy, but if taxpayers are forced to fund pensions, there will be less
money for roads, schools and crucial state spending priorities such as
snowmobile trail grooming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">If
contributions double every 10 years, forcing taxpayers to put additional funds
into state employees’ pension accounts, that means government has less for
priorities at the core of the function of government, such as the court
system—or to leave in the pockets of taxpayers to fund their own retirement. It
is time for substantive reform. To provide security to government retirees, and
to ensure that taxpayers are also able to save for their own retirements, the
state must move to a pension plan in parity with private sector pension
benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #094ec0; font-family: Georgia;">[1]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/struggling-san-jose-tests-a-way-to-cut-benefits.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-85161950041410884222017-01-17T05:28:00.000-08:002017-01-17T05:28:01.754-08:00Public Sector Ponzi Plan[This article, co-authored by Maureen Bader and Lance Christensen from the Reason Foundation, first appeared on September 23, 2014]<br />
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">We shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our
debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">
Thomas Jefferson, 1813 </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Pension
misunderstanding and misinformation are alive and well in Wyoming. Talking
about pension reform raises both hopes and hackles. While many worry about the
legacy of pension debt, the resulting tax hikes and service reductions
imperiling future generations, others drag out the litany of common, but
incorrect, objections to reform. Presented below are a few of the favorite
objections, to which we’ve responded. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Claim</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: Offering new employees a
defined contribution retirement plan (DC) instead of a defined benefit plan
(DB) and raising their salary would not save taxpayers money. You simply
switch costs: salaries versus retirement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Fact</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: A widespread argument against
moving new government employees from a defined benefit pension (DB) to a
defined contribution pension (DC) plan is that little real savings would result
because salaries would be increased to make up for reduced benefits. Salaries
are already rising without the shift to a DB plan. The last thing taxpayers can
afford are both higher salaries and the unknown future cost of unsustainable benefits.
However, the fundamental principle forgotten here is that today’s taxpayers
have a moral responsibility to pay for what they voted for. Higher salaries are
paid by today’s taxpayers, who ratify the lawmakers’ decisions by voting for
those who promise higher salaries. Separating salaries from egregious pension
benefits – as happens in pension reform – ensures that higher pension debt is
not offloaded to future generations. Our children and grandchildren – people
who have no way to protect themselves from profligate politicians – should not
be saddled with a future tax liability that they had no say in deciding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Claim</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: If the Wyoming Retirement
System (WRS) has to administer two totally different programs the
administrative costs will skyrocket, so less goes to the retirees but more to
run the system for little or no savings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Fact</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: The WRS already administers
two entirely different programs: the defined benefit and the defined <i>compensation</i>
program. True, adding a defined <i>contribution</i> plan would entail an
additional cost because these types of plans are individualized according to
the personal requirements of each member, however, according to a report by the
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average administrative and
investment costs for DB plans and DC plans were 0.43 percent and 0.95 percent
of assets, respectively. However, depending on the formation of the DC system,
one way that these costs could be minimized is by requiring the use of indexed
funds. More importantly, moving new employees to a DC plan would eliminate the
possibility of billions of dollars of new unfunded liabilities. As an aside,
the cost to run the WRS has already skyrocketed. Between 2004 and 2013 WRS
administration costs rose by 300 percent. Skyrocketing costs at WRS are another
issue entirely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Claim</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: DC plans require each worker
to become their own investment specialist and as a result, their retirement
fund is significantly lower than what a DB plan would provide. Additionally,
there is no protection should the retiree outlive his or her funds. These
retirees would then become recipients of other welfare programs such as food
stamps and Skilled Living Centers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Fact</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: As the majority of private
sector employees participate in DC plans, options in the market have increased
tremendously and costs have declined. Looking at Wyoming’s colleges and
universities, around 40 percent of the faculty and staff elect a defined
contribution system (currently administered by TIAA-CREF) and it’s not evident that
there is a problem in investments or retirement security for our educators.
Indeed, only when one holds their own money in their own account can they be
sure they will have an income in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Given
that some cities, such as Central Falls, Rhode Island, Pritchard, Alabama and
Detroit, Michigan, are reducing the pension benefit to existing retirees, and
according to hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, 85 percent of public pension
funds could go bankrupt in three decades, perhaps we should be more concerned
about what state employees still in the plan will do should the state renege on
its pension promises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Claim</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: We take out 30-year loans to
buy a house. Retirement system project in 30 year cycles too.
Wyoming has close to 80 percent of the funds necessary to get us through
the tough times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Fact</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: Using the mortgage analogy,
while simple, is not strictly comparable because investments in pension funds
are not going to reduce liabilities on an actual asset, like a house. Paying
into a pension system is more like paying off a credit card. The funding ratio
of a pension plan, quite simply, is assets divided by liabilities. Currently,
the funding ratio of Wyoming’s state pension plan is approximately 77 percent,
meaning it does not have enough money to pay its promised benefits to those
contributing into the system. But by not paying off the credit card bill
consistently – even with a couple of large payments – means that lawmakers are
consistently underfunding the system and it will be very difficult to account
for all liabilities in the future. If all the funding assumptions were met and
contributions made, the plan would not have an unfunded liability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Again,
thinking that this liability could be paid off in 30 years, much like a 30-year
homeowner loan, might seem logical on the surface, however current taxpayers
should be paying for the retirement of current government workers, not leaving
the burden of payment to their children and grandchildren. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Claim</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: The legislature has done a
very good job of tweaking the system to improve its future and is projected to
reach 100 percent funding in around four years if we can survive any
significant downturns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;">Fact</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">: Making any fiscal plan
contingent on surviving significant downturns is highly irresponsible and short-sighted.
This also implies that pension funds are invested in riskier assets to provide
for higher returns, which usually depend on economic bubbles. In a brief flurry
of feigned fiscal responsibility, Wyoming’s legislature made a very significant
tweak to the pension system when it eliminated the cost of living (COLA)
adjustments in all but the Fireman A pension plans. While a step in the right
direction, the main goal of this reform was to delay, but not eliminate, the
collapse of the retirement system. Politicians are interested in ensuring the
plan remains in place during their tenure in office. What happens once they are
gone is of little concern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">In
addition, COLA elimination and plan contribution increases mean the plan might,
should all assumptions (AKA crystal ball gazing) pan out, be fully funded not
in four years, but in 30 years—2043 according to the WRS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">A
concerned Wyoming Public Employees Association member did make one good point
after a recent expression of the above litany. He decried politicians’
proclivity for corporate welfare, the use of hundreds of thousands of dollars
to create tens of jobs in the state. This misuse of tax dollars could
potentially leave retired state employees waiting at their mailbox for a
pension check that never comes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">If
we want less political gamesmanship with our state’s pension funds, we should
remove the temptations from elected officials to play with our money, and give
the benefits our public servants deserve to them to manage, just like they
manage all of their other bills. It is time for state bills to be paid for when
they are incurred, not left for future taxpayers to fund. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-5492348827628496872017-01-15T16:45:00.001-08:002017-01-15T16:46:00.421-08:00Revenue Committee Supports Internet Sales Tax Grab[This article was first published by Maureen Bader on May 17, 2016]<br />
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In Wyoming, some politicians are looking high and low for ways to take your money, especially if they can make it look like someone else is slipping his hand into your pocket. One way that popped up during a recent Revenue Committee meeting is a tax on Internet retail sales. </div>
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Proponents justify this tax grab in two ways. First, the need for more tax revenue to fund the state budget shortfall and second, the notion that hard-pressed Main Street businesses can’t escape collecting the tax so taxing Internet sales would level the playing field. However, government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. An Internet sales tax won’t do much for the revenue shortfall and if government really cared about Main Street retailers, they would reduce their tax burden instead of extending the dead hand of government to the Internet.</div>
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Every state has a different, and sometimes complex, sales tax regime so in 1992 the Supreme Court ruled in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Quill Corporation v. North Dakota</em> that Internet and catalog retailers shouldn’t have to collect state sales taxes unless they had a physical presence in the buyer’s state.</div>
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But politicians just don’t like to see capitalist acts between consenting individuals go unpunished, so Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill) sponsored the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Main Street Fairness Act</em> in August 2011. This went nowhere, so <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434;">in November 2011, Wyoming’s own Senator Enzi introduced <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Marketplace Fairness Act</em>, to allow states to collect sales taxes from out-</span>of-state retailers. This also went nowhere. The latest attempt to force Internet retailers to act as tax collectors was Senator Enzi’s <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Marketplace Fairness Act</em> of 2015, which never made its way out of the senate. Although attempts to tax the Internet appear to be dead, it seems some Wyoming politicians hope the effort is merely on life support.</div>
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During the Revenue Committee meeting, Senator Ray Peterson asked director of the Revenue Department Dan Nobel how much the state was missing in Internet retail sales tax revenue.</div>
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According to Director Nobel, the state is missing between $23 million to $46 million per year in lost revenue. But according to a recent Consensus Revenue Estimating Group report, the state may have an additional shortfall of $130 million for fiscal year 2016 alone – and that fiscal year ends at the end of this June! Sorry Senator Patterson, the amount won’t fill state coffers.</div>
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Undeterred, Senator Patterson what more could Wyoming do to get an Internet retail sales tax passed.</div>
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Director Nobel said the state could work with congress to get it passed or also generate support for legislation. </div>
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But no matter who takes the blame for a higher tax burden on families, higher taxes won’t fix Wyoming’s budget shortfall because state legislators have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.</div>
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But the tax grab is only one justification. The other involves a backwards attempt to help Main Street businesses by raising costs to Internet retailers.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 12px; padding: 0px;">
However, forcing Internet retailers to be state tax collectors, like retailers on Main Street, just means even more businesses are hit with higher costs. Besides, many Main Street retailers use the Internet to increase their sales. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434;">So instead of dragging innovative retailers down into the high tax and regulatory regime now hurting Main Street, why not free Main Street from onerous taxes and regulations so they too have the resources to innovate and create jobs? </span></div>
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The Wyoming state government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and burdening Internet and some Main Street retailers with more paperwork is unlikely to do much about Wyoming’s budget shortfall. What it will do is burden innovative sellers with additional costs. Instead of expanding the dead hand of government into Internet retail sales, make the system less costly and burdensome for Main Street, and leave money in the pockets of the people who can spend it the wisest – the people who earned it. </div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-50654304368202258882017-01-12T06:07:00.000-08:002017-01-12T06:07:03.082-08:00Pensions – Objections to reform[Published by Maureen Bader, September 2, 2014]<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Few
people understand how the state pension system works but objections to reform
are legion. Even though the type of pension benefit state employees receive has
virtually disappeared in the private sector, many politicians, bureaucrats and
state pension managers seem to think the government sector is different, making
reform unnecessary. However, government sector pension plans suffer from the
same fundamental flaws as those now mostly purged from the private sector. For
that reason, we must overcome these objections and start serious reform in the
government sector.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Pension
plans come in two basic types: defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution
(DC). DB plans promise a defined payment when a person retires, whether the
pension fund has the money to do so or not. DC plans pay a benefit depending on
how much is contributed into the plan and how well the money is invested. In a
DB plan, pension risk falls to the employer. In a DC plan, pension risk falls
to the employee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">In
the private sector, if a company has a pension plan at all, it is most likely a
DC plan. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the Mountain
geographical area to which Wyoming belongs, about 84 per cent of government
workers have access to DB plans, while only about 20 per cent of private sector
workers do. In fact, only 48 per cent of private sector employees have a
company pension plan at all. If a private sector company has a plan, it is most
likely a DC plan. That is because the liability created by DB plans is
something private sector companies cannot afford.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">For
example, General Motors gave mostly unionized workers DB plans. In 2009,
General Motors' pension debt equaled approximately $17 billion dollars. When
the U.S. government bailed out General Motors, it saved the pensions of more
than 120,000 retired salaried employees and 400,000 retired hourly workers with
tax dollars. If the government hadn't bailed out General Motors, its pensioners
would have been left without a pension. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Even
though the likelihood of insolvency creates financial risks for taxpayers and
both current and future pensioners, Wyoming legislators have so far backed away
from serious reform. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Why
might that be?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">One
of the main arguments against reform is that Wyoming’s pension system isn’t
that bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">According
to the Wyoming Retirement System’s (WRS) July 2014 report to Wyoming’s Joint
Appropriations Committee, the Public Employee Plan (the largest of eight DB
plans managed by WRS), as of January 1, 2014 was 77.62 percent funded, up from
72.80 percent in February 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">But
even 100 percent funded is sometimes not good enough. According to former Utah
State Senator Dan Liljenquist:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">We
had the best-funded pension system in the country going into the 2008 downturn,
but during the downturn we lost about 22 percent of the value of our pension
fund almost overnight. […] [E]ven though we were well-funded, that the 22
percent loss in value actually opened up a 30 percent gap in our pension
funding ratio—our funding ratio dropped from about 100 percent in 2007 to a
projected 70 percent by 2013—even though we had paid every penny that the
actuary had asked us to over the previous several decades. […] [W]e realized
that if this system was dependent on stock market returns with the legislature
and taxpayers required to come back and cover any funding gaps if the markets
do poorly—then we felt like it was a risky proposition and one that we wanted
to try and mitigate moving forward.</span><u style="text-underline: #094EC0;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #094ec0; font-family: Georgia;">[1]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Another
objection is that Wyoming has billions of dollars saved in special accounts so
the plan could be bailed out without a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Wyoming
has six permanent funds, which, according to the state treasury’s 2013 annual
report, as of July 2013, held assets worth $16.8 billion. The Wyoming Permanent
Mineral Trust Fund, the largest of these funds, held $6.1 billion. With the
unfunded pension debt totaling about $2 billion, it would appear there is
plenty to bail it out when the time comes, right? Well, assets in the funds
themselves are supposedly untouchable. Additionally, this over taxation been
rationalized as a safety valve to cover state spending priorities during
emergencies. Should this money be used to bail out bad management decisions
instead? This is a question legislators must start asking of themselves and
their colleagues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Another
objection heard, often from WRS employees, is: people just won’t save for their
own retirement. But if people working in the private sector save, government
workers can too. There are ways to ensure employees save even if they have a DC
plan. For instance, new employees could be automatically enrolled in a DC plan
with a choice to opt out. A new DC plan could be managed by the existing
retirement system staff, which should assuage job-loss worries at WRS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">If
new employees joined a defined contribution plan instead of the defined benefit
plan, the unfunded liability in the old plan would still be there, say
naysayers to reform. Yes, this is true, but more importantly, no new pension
debt would be created. According to the Reason Foundation’s debt
handbook. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">A
DB plan’s total costs consist of two elements: (1) the normal costs of accruing
benefits, and (2) the amortization costs for unfunded liabilities (akin to debt
service). … the normal costs paid by government employers are used to prefund
the pension system. Amortization costs—the cost component used to pay down
pension debts—are separate, and the government will still be responsible for
covering amortization costs, regardless of whether normal cost contributions
flow to the old DB plan or to a new DC plan.</span><u style="text-underline: #094EC0;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #094ec0; font-family: Georgia;">[2]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">The
last objection to reform is easily debunked: that the benefit attracts
employees. The workforce has changed and people no longer spend decades
laboring away with the same employer. In fact, the mobility of young
employables today means a portable pension such as a DC plan is more attractive
than a plan that takes years to be eligible for. In addition, a better tool to
attract the workforce of today is higher salaries, something a reduction in
pension costs would allow to the state to offer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Let’s
face it, companies in the private sector are eliminating the risks created by
DB plans and so too should government. None of the arguments against reform
stand up to careful analysis. To ensure retirees have a pension in the future
without sacrificing the financial future of our children and grandchildren,
Wyoming’s state pension plan must be reformed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 429.0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<u style="text-underline: #094EC0;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #094ec0; font-family: Georgia;">[1]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;"> Leonard Gilroy, “Closing the Gap:
Designing and Implementing Pension Reform in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Utah—Interview
with Dan Liljenquist, former Utah State Senator,” Reason<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;">Foundation,
September 17, 2013, http://goo.gl/fipGs6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u style="text-underline: #094EC0;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #094ec0; font-family: Georgia;">[2]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia;"> Lance Christensen, Adrian Moore,
“Pension Reform Handbook: A Starter Guide for Reformers,” Reason Foundation,
2014, p. 97 </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-190931427761807192017-01-11T06:15:00.000-08:002017-01-11T06:15:05.554-08:00Wyomings pension plans -- reform, ruin or bail-out<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">[Published by Maureen Bader, August 26, 2014]<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pension
contributions to rise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> ▪<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;">Taxpayers now contribute $6.71
for every $1 contributed by bureaucrats.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> ▪<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;">Taxpayers soon to be gouged at
$7.08:1 before improvement to $6.21:1. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wyoming’s
last legislative session saw movement in the direction of more government
sector pension reform, and not a moment too soon. With only 77.62 cents per
dollar promised available to pay retired state workers should financial
disaster strike, Wyoming’s legislators recognize that the state’s pension plan
contributions must rise. Fortunately, legislators also recognize that
government workers themselves must contribute more to their own retirement.
Problems inherent to the government sector pension plans are augmented when
employees contribute little or nothing to their own retirement. Taxpayer
contribution equity is the first step towards a pension system fair to both
retirees and taxpayers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In
1979, Wyoming legislators required the State of Wyoming (read – taxpayers) to
fund a portion of its employee’s pension plan contributions. By 1991, the
Wyoming Legislature authorized state agencies to pay all of the employee’s
contribution. In 2010, however, fiscal realities forced a change and employees
began contributing what amounted to a smidgen – 1.43 percent of their
salary – to their own pension plans. Of the 14.12 percent total
contribution, taxpayers pick up the remaining 12.69 percent, or about 90
percent of the contribution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Government
workers already benefit from a type of plan rarely enjoyed by the people forced
to fund them. Most government workers enjoy defined benefit plans, a type of
plan that has mostly disappeared from the private sector because businesses
cannot afford the massive future liability they create.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">According
to the Wyoming Retirement System’s (WRS) July 2014 report to Wyoming’s Joint
Appropriations Committee, the Public Employee Plan (the largest of eight plans
WRS manages), as of January 1, 2014 was 77.62 percent funded, up from 72.8
percent in February 2013. Although an improvement, it still means that if the
plan closed down today, pensioners would receive 77.62 cents for every dollar
promised during retirement, or taxpayers would be on the hook to bail out the
plan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To
ensure the plan is around to actually pay retirees once they retire and
minimize the risk of a taxpayer-funded bailout in the future, pension
contributions will continue to rise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At
the moment, total pension contributions will rise from 15.87 percent of a
government worker’s salary, to 16.62 percent in July 2015. The employer’s (read
– taxpayers) contribution share at the moment is 13.82 percent, while the
bureaucrat picks up the remaining 2.055 percent. This means taxpayers $6.71 for
every $1 contributed by bureaucrats.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing
is ever simple in governmentlandia, however. To help bureaucrats pay for their <i>own</i>
contribution to their <i>own</i> retirement, the legislature gave them a 2.5
percent pay increase. This represented a $37.5 million dollar hit to the
general fund over two years, not including the $2 million in bureaucrat bonus
payments. Assuming all bureaucrats got the same pay increase (an unlikely
assumption, but work with me here), the net result of the increased pension
contribution is a pay increase of 2.07 percent. That’s money not going to
roads, to schools or staying in your pocket for you to pay for the things you
want.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It
gets worse. In July 2015, the employer’s contribution increases to 14.6
percent, meaning that for every dollar paid by bureaucrats, taxpayers pay
$7.08. This doesn’t improve until July 2017, when bureaucrats’ contributions
increase to 2.3 percent of their <i>own</i> salary to their <i>own</i> pension,
and taxpayer’s contributions actually fall a bit, to 14.32 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #343434;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The
current government pension plan is a legacy from a bygone era, holding a
gold-plated promise of retirement security that Bernie Madoff would have been
proud of. These Ponzi Schemes create big financial risks for organizations,
retirees and taxpayers. Pension contributions must increase, but treating
taxpayers like cash cows is shameful. It is time for pension contribution
fairness – bureaucrats must contribute more to their own retirement. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-61866028465754188792017-01-10T06:03:00.000-08:002017-01-10T06:17:46.161-08:00Citizens aren't cash cows for government pensions<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Published by Maureen Bader in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, January 2, 2014]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Taxpayers contribute $7.70 for every
$1 contributed by bureaucrats</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Governor Mead’s recent budget
announcement is potential gold for government workers. In addition to a salary
increase, the governor proposes to roll back modest pension reforms that
provided some relief to taxpayers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Instead of forcing taxpayers, many of
whom do not even have a pension plan, to pay more towards the pensions of
government workers, government workers must themselves contribute more to their
own pension plans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Legislation passed in 1979 required
the State of Wyoming (read – taxpayers) to fund a portion of its employee’s
pension plan contributions. By 1991, the Wyoming Legislature authorized state
agencies to pay all of the employee’s contribution. In 2010, however, the
employee-contribution myth came to an end when state employees began
contributing what amounts to a smidgen – 1.43 percent of their salary – to
their own pension plans. Taxpayers pick up the remaining 12.69 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2012, the legislature further
reformed this contribution inequity by increasing bureaucrat’s contributions by
0.25 percent, to 1.68 percent. Taxpayers, too, took a hit and now contribute
12.94 percent into these pension plans. This means that for every $7.70
contributed by taxpayers, bureaucrats contribute $1. This remains
burdensome to taxpayers, but represents a big improvement from the time when
bureaucrats contributed nothing to their own retirement. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And yet the governor wants to claw
back this taxpayer relief.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Wyoming Retirement System manages
eight pension plans for government workers. As of February 2013, the Public
Employee Plan (the largest of the eight plans) was 72.8 percent funded. This
means that if the plan closed down today, pensioners would receive 72.8 cents
for every dollar promised or taxpayers would be on the hook to bail out the
plan. To reach a 100 percent funding level by 2043, the Wyoming Retirement
System says contributions must go up to 17.9 percent, instead of the currently
legislated 15.12 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But who will pay for this
contribution increase? If the governor has his way, taxpayers will bear the
burden of higher contributions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The legislature is looking at
increasing employee contributions to 1.93 percent and raising taxpayer
contributions to 13.19 percent. This would reduce the inequity to 6.83:1, which
is a move in the right direction. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But in an election year things rarely
move in the right direction for long. The governor wants taxpayers to pick up
not only the bureaucrat’s current increase, but their previous increase as
well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Government workers already benefit
from a type of plan rarely enjoyed by the people forced to fund them. Most
government workers enjoy defined benefit plans, a type of plan that has mostly
disappeared from the private sector because businesses cannot afford the massive
future liability they create.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pension plans come in two basic
types: defined benefit and defined contribution. Defined benefit plans promise
a defined payment when a person retires. Defined contribution plans, on the
other hand, pay out depending on how much is contributed into the plan and how
well the money is invested.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Defined benefit pension plans were
the norm in days gone by. They were developed at a time when relatively few
retirees took money out of the plan and many workers paid in and so are, in
effect, Ponzi schemes creating big financial risks for organizations, retirees
and taxpayers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Today, defined benefit pension plans
exist mainly in the government sector.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, in the Mountain geographical area to which Wyoming belongs, only
about 63 percent of private sector workers have access to any type of pension
plan at all, while about 88 percent of government workers do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While 83 percent of government
workers have access to a defined benefit plan, only 12 percent of private
sector workers do. If a company in the private sector has a plan, it is most
likely a defined contribution plan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It will take years to fully fund the
state pension plan as it is currently structured. Pension contributions must
increase, but treating taxpayers like cash cows is shameful. If Wyoming
continues to offer government workers defined benefit plans, the governor must
not turn back the clock but instead require government workers to contribute
equally to their pension plans.</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-20248236033762057132017-01-05T06:05:00.000-08:002017-01-05T06:05:10.234-08:00Pension-Plan ParadoxThis article was first published by Maureen Bader on November 26, 2013<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Beneficiaries of Wyoming’s state pension
plans received big promises from politicians who don’t seem to have put much thought
into how to pay for those promises. With state pension liabilities still rising,
Wyoming’s legislature is looking at another tweak to the state’s pension plans.
Without substantial reform, however, another quick fix is likely to leave both
pensioners and taxpayers at risk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It is true that Wyoming’s pension plans are
in less bad shape than those in other places. Pritchard, Ala., and Detroit,
Mich., provide good examples of where a lack of reform leads. Former Pritchard
city pensioners were left waiting for pension checks that never arrived. In
Detroit, pensioners may receive only 16 cents for every dollar promised. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Neither scenario has occurred in Wyoming – yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But procrastination puts both our state’s pensioners
and taxpayers at risk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Wyoming has eight pension plans for government
employees. The legislature passed two bills in 2012 – Senate files 59 and 97 – to
tweak these plans. These adjustments did a lot to document and illuminate the weaknesses
in the retirement system. Senate File 59 eliminated cost of living increases (COLA)
in all state pension plans except Fireman’s Retirement Fund Plan A (Fire A),
while Senate File 97 changed the number of years used to determine the level of
retirement benefits for new state employees from three years to five years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The small fixes from SF59 and SF97 are
projected to save Wyoming taxpayers $1.2 billion over the ensuing 30 years and reduce
the anticipated unfunded liability by $2.9 billion. But that 2012 tweak still left
an unfunded liability of $1.275 billion for all the eight pension plans. Today this
number sits at $2.154 billion in the state pension plan (the big plan) alone,
but who’s counting? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Eliminating the COLA and increasing the
number of years over which a salary is averaged should reduce the amount
taxpayers will have to pay. But just how costly is the last remaining COLA in
Fire A? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fire A is so rich that, left unchanged,
in five years the average pension will be higher than the average pension for
judges (see note below for an explanation). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Fire A currently supports 303 pensioners
and is a closed plan, meaning no new employees enter the plan. Good thing, as
the seven current employees in Fire A can retire at 75 percent of their final
salary and receive a 3-percent compounded COLA every year. Making this
situation worse, however, is that neither current employees nor the taxpayer contribute
to the plan and it is $68 million in the hole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">At the current level of benefits, the plan
will have no money to pay pensions by 2028. A fix is in the works to prevent
this from happening, and guess who gets burned? The taxpayer, as usual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This timid proposal will reduce the COLA to
2.1-percent simple COLA, and force taxpayers to contribute to the plan. This proposal
modifies another proposal, which would require taxpayers fund a 2.1-percent
compounded COLA costing taxpayers $65 million over 10 years. The cost to
taxpayers of the current proposal is unclear at this time, but no doubt lower than
the original proposal because of the simple rather than compounding COLA. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What should the state do instead? It should
cut the Fire A COLA to zero as it has with the other pension plans; most
importantly, it should reform the entire retirement system to eliminate the
liability to taxpayers. This would involve moving from the current defined
benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, <a href="http://wyliberty.org/highlight3/bureaucrat-pension-plans-create-false-security-and-violate-taxpayers-rights/">as
I’ve noted</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> previously</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Changing the terms of the state’s pension
plans will be difficult politically, no doubt about it. Without reform,
however, pensioners may be left with no pension at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">NOTE:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Compounded vs Simple COLA <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The average annual pension in the Fire A
plan is $48,055 (as of Jan. 1, 2013). In the case of a compounding COLA, the
increase is paid on the base amount plus COLA each year. This means the average
retiree in the Fire A plan would have a higher pension than the average judge after
five years. In the case of a simple COLA, the 3 percent is paid on the base
amount and added each year. In that case, a retiree in the Fire A plan would
have a higher pension than a judge by year six. In the case of 2.1-percent
simple COLA, it would take seven years before the pensioner in the Fire A plan
was making more than a retired judge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td colspan="7" style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 455.3pt;" valign="top" width="455">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Fireman Pension Plan A</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td colspan="6" style="height: 20.7pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 390.25pt;" width="390">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">3% Compounded<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
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<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$48,055<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$49,497<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$50,982<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$52,511<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$54,086<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$55,709<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$57,380<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19.8pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="height: 19.8pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td colspan="6" style="height: 19.8pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 390.25pt;" width="390">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">3% Simple<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$48,055<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$49,497<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$50,938<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$52,380<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$53,822<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$55,263<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$56,705<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="height: 19.35pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td colspan="6" style="height: 19.35pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 390.25pt;" width="390">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">2.1% Simple<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
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<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Yr6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15.1pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">$48,055<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">$49,064</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.0pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">$50,073</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">$51,082</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">$52,092</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">$53,101</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 15.1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.05pt;" valign="top" width="65">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: right; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">$54,110</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1353548937081604075.post-73703535183367715202017-01-04T09:37:00.000-08:002017-01-04T09:37:19.827-08:00Conspiracy against prosperity - the articleThis article was first published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on January 4, 2017 (with a few spelling changes, but no matter).<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Scientists classify political theory into
three major categories: capitalism, collectivism and apathy. The goal of
political theory is to justify behavior, be that reaping what you sow, reaping
someone else’s sewing or not giving two hoots. As a rule, any political theory that
justifies taking someone else’s sewing will do. Collectivism is a typical
example of that category. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">With the cunning typical of criminal
masterminds, collectivists play a long game. They don’t simply walk up to your
house and say, give me your sewing. They work through the political system to
get someone else to walk up to your house and say, give me your sewing. This
creates the maximum opportunity for theft, as the only option for the homeowner
is the jailhouse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In this way collectivists are able to fund
their takeover schemes. The politics of envy, the welfare state and the
entitlement mentality are all used by collectivists to enhance their ability to
justify a political system that takes other people’s sewing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Collectivists who get jobs, build up
savings and eventually own some of their own sewing often turn into
capitalists. They now work to prevent people from coming to their house to take
their sewing. This is considered the ultimate betrayal by collectivists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Capitalists work hard to reap what they sow
and think they should keep it. Science has not figured out how they do it, but
capitalists justify this behavior by saying that we can’t all have what we want.
By using the marketplace, the price system rations scarce resources to their
best use. In this way, we all have the opportunity to become better off, not
just those with political pull. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Capitalists make other claims poo-pooed by
collectivists. For instance, capitalists contend it is OK to pay more for
diamonds than water even though water is essential to life; it is merely a
matter of supply and demand. Still braver is the claim that a person’s labor
should be valued according to its contribution to the company. Capitalists have
long said Marx’s labor theory of value, where the value of production is
determined solely by the labor used to create it, is bunk. The value of labor
is merely a matter of productivity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Scientists haven’t discovered why
capitalists rarely turn into collectivists. One hypothesis relates to the vast
differences in strategies to sew more. To get sewing, capitalists say we must:
ensure government is not crowding out the private sector by, for example,
setting up government-financed sewing centers; we must get rid of red tape that
prevents people from creating small business like, for example, hair braiding
shops; and we must reduce government spending and taxation by, for example,
reducing the number of bureaucrats who benefit from pension plans and health
benefits the people forced to pay for them can’t afford for themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Some have observed that even though the
capitalist system, throughout history, is the only system that has reduced
poverty by increasing the amount of sewing available, collectivists never give
up. For some this shows a possibility of compromise. But not everyone agrees.
Others say this in fact proves collectivist behavior is motivated entirely by
theft and merely verifies that collectivists are sneaky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Into the third category of political theory
fall those who don’t give two hoots. They express no opinion on taking other
people’s sewing. They, like the capitalists, just want to be left alone. Non-hooters
tend to be reclusive, living in cabins in the forest or in living rooms in
front of a television set consuming junk food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Scientists are hard pressed to understand
how they survive and if this opinion could change. It is widely assumed this
behavior is a myth, as scientists have never actually seen it in action. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In light of the estimated size of the two
groups that prefer to either reap what they sow or eat chips, scientists are completely
mystified by how collectivists have been so successful for so long. Among the
vast number of theories used to shine a light on the mystery, the most plausible
holds responsible collectivists canny ability to wield guilt. In addition, a
popular theory credits the collectivist’s ability to use purely hypothetical moral
melodrama to jerk tears from law makers. Truly, collectivists utilize a shadowy
strategy that capitalists can only aspire to, as the rest don’t give two
hoots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">One political theory has truly defined our
age by justifying theft. Now, if only freedom fighters could find and motivate
those who don’t care, they could to work collectively against the collectivists
to remove the incentive to steal. This way, we might all sew more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />Maureen Baderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04410952072246748064noreply@blogger.com0